The present invention relates generally to the field of disposable dental floss holders, and, more particularly, to an injection molded, planar dental floss holder adapted to retain a length of flat dental floss at an angle to the plane of the holder. The present invention also relates to a method of making such a holder.
The dental floss holder of the present invention finds application in the field of dental care, whether for the use of dentists and dental hygienists, or for personal use. The holder retains a length of dental floss for removing plaque from tooth surfaces and food particles from between teeth.
As described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,538,023, in the past, teeth have been cleaned primarily by brushing, and the spaces between teeth have been cleaned by a variety of methods including brushing, water jets of water, toothpicks, and the like. The spaces between teeth have often been cleaned by the manual application of floss and dental tape or similar thread.
The objective in cleaning teeth is to remove food particles, chemicals, and plaque from tooth surfaces. Secondarily, the objective in cleaning teeth is to freshen the breath, often fouled by foreign matter on and between the teeth. However, even when plaque is removed, it can reform within a relatively short period of time. Thus, the regular removal of such plaque is an essential part of dental health.
If plaque is not removed daily, it can develop and harden into firmly attached tartar which may cause a variety of dental maladies, including gingivitis, and ultimately tooth loss. Unfortunately, brushing alone is not effective to remove plaque from surfaces between teeth. Of the available method of tooth care, only dental floss is effective for removing plaque from between teeth. Floss is typically a strand of multi-filament nylon, either round or flat, that is moved into the space between the sides of two teeth. However, positioning and maneuvering floss is difficult at best. The procedure for using floss today most often includes winding opposite ends of a strand around one finger of each hand respectively, then inserting these two fingers into one""s mouth, attempting to position the span of floss between the fingers in the desired location, and finally reciprocating the floss between teeth while also moving it vertically along the tooth from tip to gum.
This technique for the use of floss is so tedious that even folks who are serious about dental hygiene seldom floss daily. Attempts have been made to render flossing less tedious and more effective by the development of holders onto which floss is attached. Most holders have two arms across which the floss is strung. However, such holders have been less than ideal and have not resulted in the increased use of dental floss.
Various holders proposed in the art have been directed to ease of use of both round, multi-stranded floss and floss tape. The present invention is specifically directed to the art of holder for floss tape. One of the innovations in the art has resulted in the use of floss tape including TEFLON(copyright). Typically, the tape is laid across an injection mold during the molding process, the holder is formed around the tape, and the ends of the tape are cut or burned off to remove the excess tape extending beyond the arms of the holder. However, one of the common drawbacks of this structure is that the tape tends to pull our of the holder, rendering the floss holder unusable.
Another recognized need in the art is that of orienting the tape so that it can be easily slipped into the space between the teeth. Since the tape is flat, it should be oriented in the same direction as the space between the teeth, i.e. generally perpendicular to the gums. Once such proposed solution involves curving the spaced-apart arms holding round, multi-stranded floss in a downward direction toward the teeth, such as that depicted in FIG. 1, described below. A proposed solution for a holder of flat dental floss also includes curving the arms toward the teeth, and orienting the flat tape generally parallel to the ends of the arms, such as that depicted in FIG. 2. Both solutions have been somewhat successful, but the cost of manufacturing both holders is unnecessarily high due to the shape and orientation of the holder. Further, neither holder solves the solution of the floss pulling out of the arms of the holder.
Thus, there remains a need in the art for a dental floss tape holder which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture, but is easy to use so as to encourage its frequent use. Also, the holder should firmly retain the floss within the holder.
The present invention is directed to solving these and other drawbacks in the art. The holder of this invention is a generally planar, disposable floss holder with a pair of spaced apart arms adapted to retain a length of dental floss tape. By forming the holder in a single plane, unlike the curved aspect of the holders of FIGS. 1 and 2, the holder is much less expensive to manufacture. In order to orient the floss tape at a convenient angle for insertion between teeth, the flat floss is molded into the arms at an angle. In this way, by angling the holder within one""s mouth, the user can easily insert the floss tape between teeth, while providing an abrasive surface with which to floss the plaque from tooth surfaces.
The present invention also provides a method of making the dental floss tape holder described above. In order to eliminate the tendency of the tape to pull out of the arms of the holder, a pair of spaced apart holes are formed in the tape before the tape is laid on the injection mold. When the plastic is injected into the hold, the plastic flows through the holes, and then the plastic hardens, thereby forming a positive mount for the tape in the holder.
These and other features and advantages of this invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.